Simone stared, astounded that anyone, especially an attorney who had spent as much time in Judge Buford’s courtroom as Poltanic had, would arrive in such a manner.
“Mr. Poltanic, get a hold of yourself,” the judge ordered.
“Yes, sir.” Poltanic gasped, bent double and took deep breaths.
“I think he might stroke out,” Santos said as sounds of Poltanic’s wheezes echoed in the courtroom.
Simone heard the door swing open. Vince stepped inside, taking barely any notice of the scene before him and circled around to sit beside Jack. “What did I miss?” he whispered a bit too loudly. He looked at Simone, his expression blank. “What?”
She narrowed her eyes.
“I respectfully request all charges against my client be dropped,” Poltanic managed finally. He gripped the edge of the table for support. “With the death of the state’s main witness it’s clear they no longer have a case. A trial of any kind at this point would be vastly prejudicial—”
“Enough.” Judge Buford’s nose wrinkled, no doubt due to the odor of coffee and panic-fueled sweat permeating the room. “I find it completely disrespectful to the court that an attorney would request a hearing of this magnitude and then arrive late to the proceedings. Your client’s rights are paramount at this point, Mr. Poltanic, and for that reason alone I’m not going to hold you in contempt—”
“Contempt for what?” Poltanic screeched.
Simone cringed as recognition dawned on the defense attorney’s face.
“Forgive me, Your Honor,” he said.
“Miss Armstrong. I’m giving you seventy-two hours. Either return to this court with a new strategy, or the charges against Mr. Denton will be dismissed.”
Simone’s ears roared. “Thank you, Your Honor.”
The judge banged his gavel loud enough to drown out Poltanic’s stuttering protests.
Simone dropped into her chair.
“Congratulations, Simone.” Ward patted her awkwardly on the shoulder. “You pulled it off after all.”
“Thanks.” She pressed a hand against her brow. Beads of sweat sank into her fingers. “That shouldn’t have worked.”
“What was that?” Ward asked as he moved off.
“Nothing. Just, I’m ready to get back to work,” Simone said.
“Seventy-two hours. Don’t waste them.” He moved off, only to be accosted by Benedict Russell as he strode out of the court.
Jack grinned. “Congratulations, Counselor. You did it.”
She turned and looked at Vince, completely unconvinced by his innocent act. “Did I?”
“It wasn’t me standing up there talking to the judge,” he said. “Now how about we get back to business?”
Chapter 14
“You all have been busy.” Simone dumped her briefcase and purse onto her kitchen counter.
Clearly Eden, Allie and Kyla had all spent the better part of their day reorganizing all of Simone’s notes on the Denton case and attaching highlighted portions of Mara’s digital journal. Her walls and half of her windows were wallpapered to the point of blocking out part of the sun, but it was the oversize map of the Central Valley that caught her attention. “What’s this?”
“That’s what we’re working on now.” Kyla stuck a small red ballpoint pin into a location, then made a tick mark on the chart beside the map. “We’re going through everything in Mara’s GPS records and tracking her movements.”
“Looking for patterns,” Eden mumbled around the pen in her mouth. “If it can work for chasing serial killers, surely, we can find something on an accountant.”
“It’s interesting,” Allie said from her spot in the corner of the couch. Reading glasses perched on her nose, another set stuck on top of her head, she waved a finger in the air for attention. “Mara’s remarks in her journal are quite detailed. Much more than I’d expect from a young professional just starting out.”
“She was a brainiac.” Simone couldn’t let herself think of Mara as anything other than a lost witness at the moment. Once they closed the case, then she could grieve, but until then, it would have to be business as usual. “You’ve read her school transcripts. I’ve never seen such a brilliant record. She’s like the gold standard for every employer out there.”
“Yes, I noticed that, too,” Allie said.
Simone glanced at Eden, who looked up. Her brow furrowed. Even Kyla seemed to pick up on the odd tone in Allie’s voice.
“I can hear the wheels turning.” Eden sat back and rested her bare feet on the edge of her chair at the dining room table. “But I can’t quite understand the words. What do you have, Allie?”
“I’m not sure. It’s just...odd.” She drew her laptop closer. “Give me some time here. Go on with whatever you were doing.”
“Mara was in Stockton a lot.” Kyla stood back to examine the map. “Does she have family there?”
“As far as I know her parents are back east and her brother’s down south.” Simone focused on the map again. “How many times did she go there?”
“I’m up to six so far, but that’s only in the first two weeks of the time period we’re working off,” Kyla answered.
“We figured since the case began six months ago, that was a good starting point,” Eden explained.
“She always took Highway 160. Why? I-5 would have gotten her there and back faster.” Simone trailed her finger along the path. “This route would have cut at least a half hour from her trip. I don’t remember her ever saying anything about Stockton.”
“Did she go to school there?” Kyla asked.
“Not according to her records,” Allie said. “Ivy League all the way, private scholarships and grants. No student debt.”
“Must be nice,” Kyla said. “I’m going to be paying my student loans after I start collecting Social Security. This address keeps popping up near the airport. Eden, can you do an online search and see what it is?”
“On it.” Eden tapped away on her laptop. “Have you seen Vince this afternoon?”
“What?” Simone kicked off her heels and got a bottle of water out of the fridge. “Oh, yeah. He showed up in court just as I was granted the continuance.”
“Wait, you got it? You won?” Kyla whipped around so fast she knocked the container of pins to the ground. “Sorry, but wow!” The hem of her peacock-blue dress skimmed the floor as she scooped up pins. “That means the DA can tear up your resignation letter now, right?”
“Your what?”
Simone concentrated on her water as her friends shouted protests. When they finally calmed down she managed to explain. “They had to believe I was all in on this case. And they did.” She didn’t, however, have any illusions that her stay of execution would be permanent. She was on borrowed time and everyone knew it. “If this case goes south they’re going to need a scapegoat.”
“But if you win, you’ll be the highest-profile lawyer in the office,” Eden said.
“Yeah, I’m sure Ward will love to share that spotlight.” She waved them off topic. “I can’t think about that right now.” She couldn’t think about a lot of things. “You guys hungry? Vince said he could bring something from his bar if you wanted.”
“I’d love one of those double-stacked burgers they do,” Eden said and gestured Kyla over to look at the screen. “And maybe some fries and onion rings.”
“One heart attack, check.” Simone shook her head. Eden’s eating habits, when she remembered to eat, were absolutely atrocious.
“I wouldn’t mind the baked salmon,” Allie said. “Where is Vince, by the way? I’m surprised he’s not attached to your hip.”
“He dropped me off. He’s driving out to see Gale Alders to tell her about Mara.” She’d offered to go along, but he’d wanted her to get to work. No doubt he thought he was spar
ing her the emotional upheaval of having to break devastating news to a victim’s loved one. She’d never understood how police officers did all the notifying they did. She wouldn’t wish that on anyone let alone Vince. “I’ll text him and let him know what to bring...back.” Simone set her phone down and looked first at Eden then Allie. “Would you two care to tell me how you know what’s on the menu at his place?”
Eden’s eyes darted. “Every bar serves burgers.”
“Not everyone serves salmon. Allie? Your turn since Eden’s playing dumb.”
“I’m an adult. I can play whatever I want,” Eden protested.
Allie’s eyebrows pinched as if she was carefully choosing her next words. “We might have gone there a time or two since he opened. You know, just to check things out. See how he was.”
“A time or two?”
“Okay, half a dozen,” Eden said. “He makes a really good burger. And before you ask, I doubt he ever knew we were there. He was either behind the bar or in the kitchen, and Allie and I made sure to sit as far from both as possible.”
“One time we even went in disguise.” Allie grinned. “I was a blonde.”
“You’ve been stalking my ex-husband?”
“Are you really going to keep calling him that after what happened this morning in your office?” Kyla asked.
Simone’s face went lava-hot. She gulped down more water.
“Hey, it doesn’t take long to get a cup of coffee.” Kyla shrugged and dumped the last of the pins onto the table. “I was back at my desk before you guys were, um, finished.”
“Ha!” Eden’s eyes hadn’t been this filled with wonder since she’d gotten a look at the giant cotton candy booth at the State Fair when they were kids. “You two had sex in your office?”
“No, we did not,” Simone snapped, then, at Kyla’s knowing look, backtracked. “Well, kind of. It wasn’t exactly reciprocal. He, well, he was helping me to—”
“Yeah, I’ll just bet he was.” Eden’s laughter tugged a smile out of her.
“You want to say something, too?” Simone asked Allie.
“Vince is a smart man,” was all her friend said in her perfect, annoyingly analytical tone. “Clearly he knows when the woman he loves needs...”
Eden leaned her chin on her hand. “You know, the more I get to know him, the more I like him. I might even be able to forgive him for walking out on you.”
Yeah, Simone was thinking the same thing. Wait. Whatever color embarrassment had flooded into her cheeks drained at Allie’s observation. Did Vince still love her? Was it possible...?
“Earth to Simone!” Eden snapped her fingers in the air. “Where did you go? Oh, wait. Never mind. Carry on.”
“You could have taken a longer break,” Simone whispered to Kyla as she resumed her text to Vince.
“I did.” Kyla grinned. “I hid out in the break room until the windows stopped rattling.”
“Window rattler.” Eden cackled. “That is so going on my blackmail list for later use.” She elbowed Simone out of the way as she attacked the kitchen cabinets. “And since you’re putting in an order, would you please ask lover boy to stock up on some actual food? You know, cookies, ice cream, chips?”
“And have him throw in protein, too?” Allie called. “Some peanut butter would be nice.”
“I’ll have him bring dinner, but I’m not having him do a grocery run.”
“Fine, I’ll go once I’m done here,” Kyla said. “If this first part of the list is any indication, we’re going to be at this for a very long time.”
“Answers take time,” Eden said before she let out a pitiful whine. “Honest to Pete, Simone? Is this rice cheese?”
“It makes a good grilled cheese.”
“Even I know that’s wrong,” Allie said. “Guys, come here.” She waved them all over and pointed to the screen. “I’ve been going through Mara’s school files. Look at this yearbook picture from her high school. Does anything look off to you?”
“Not really,” Simone said, wishing she didn’t have to look at the smiling face of the young woman she’d promised to take care of. “She looks exactly the same.”
“That’s my point.” Allie held up Mara’s photograph next to the screen. “The hair’s different, but not by much. And look here, there’s a small scar above her clavicle. See?”
“Barely.” Eden leaned in and squinted, then grabbed the glasses off Allie’s head and put them on. “So what?”
“According to Mara’s medical records, she got that scar two years ago in a bicycle accident. So what’s it doing in her yearbook picture from over seven years ago?”
Simone stood up straight. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“Neither does the fact that almost all her trips to Stockton took place between midnight and 6:00 a.m.,” Kyla said.
“What is going on?” Simone demanded. “It’s like her life is falling apart right before our eyes.”
“If it was her life,” Allie said. “I want to do some more checking, but it’s looking more and more like Mara wasn’t who she said she was.”
“Then who was she?” Simone asked, but none of her friends had an answer.
* * *
“I appreciate you coming to tell me in person.” Gale Alders sat in the same chair she did the other day, but the fragments of hope he’d seen in her eyes before had vanished. She looked drawn, exhausted, but the house, surprisingly enough, was immaculate. “Dave came back early and took the kids out. I needed some time.” Tears welled. “Sorry. I still can’t believe she’s gone.”
Somehow Vince had managed to slip his mask of detachment in place before he’d knocked on the door. “I know how difficult this must be and I’m sorry to have to ask you some more questions.”
“No, no, ask away. Anything if it will help find whoever did this to Mara.”
“The police have been having a difficult time getting in touch with her family.”
“I’m not surprised. Mara said her folks traveled quite a bit and she and her brother weren’t close.”
Vince considered that. “I don’t recall seeing any family photos in her apartment. I don’t suppose you have any?”
“No, I’m afraid not. She was friendly enough, but didn’t seem too keen on talking about her past, you know?” She reached behind her and pulled out the stuffed elephant he remembered from her son’s stroller. She squeezed it in her hands. “She loved my kids. Absolutely doted on them. Especially Christopher. He’s going to be upset to have forgotten this.”
Funny. The one photo he did remember seeing was of Mara and the boy. And the elephant. He knew one thing from having searched Mara’s apartment. She was smart. Beyond smart. She was clever. Whatever she’d been doing out on that highway, she’d have had a reason. He’d bet she also had a backup plan should anything go wrong.
“Would you mind if I looked at that for a moment?” He gestured to the elephant. The gray animal’s cartoon-like face stared back at him as he squeezed and prodded. “Your son called him Baba.”
“Short for his favorite bedtime story. Mara was the first one to read it to him. She always told him an elephant never forgets.”
He felt a hard corner deep inside the elephant’s belly. “No,” he said. “They really don’t.” Flipping the elephant over, he examined the seam, looking for easy access. There, in the crease between the neck and body, his finger slipped into a small hole. Two hidden snaps on the inside broke apart.
“What are you doing?” Gale sat forward as he pried open the animal, dug his fingers in and pulled out a small metal box. He slid the lid forward. “What is that?”
“It’s a key.” He pulled it free and held it up.
“To what? Why would she have put it in Baba?”
“Excellent questions,” Vince said. “I’m g
oing to need to take this with me.”
* * *
“You want me here in the morning, or at the office?” Kyla hefted her bag over her shoulder and headed to the front door.
“I could use you,” Eden said. At Simone’s irritated glare she feigned innocence. “What? I could.”
“You’re not stealing my assistant.”
“You want to steal me?” Kyla’s posture straightened. “Am I in demand?”
“I’ll loan you out,” Simone told her. “But only for as long as this case goes. Back here by eight?”
“You got it. Night, guys.”
“Drive safely.” Simone yanked open the door. She found Vince and Cole juggling numerous bags on the other side. “Well, hello. I was beginning to wonder where you’d gotten to.”
“Hey, Vince. Cole.” Kyla batted her lashes at Vince before she grinned at Simone, who grinned back. “I’m out. But I’ll be working from home later, so if you need anything you can reach me on my cell.”
“Oh, wait. Before you go.” Vince looked at the bags he carried, then at Cole. “The one in your right hand. Yeah. BBQ pork sliders, as ordered.”
“Officially the best bosses ever!” Kyla plucked the bag from Cole’s hand and darted around them. “See you tomorrow.”
“He’s not your boss, either!” Simone yelled after her. “Stop poaching my people,” she ordered and waved them inside. “You’d better feed these two before they start gnawing on each other’s arms.”
“Unloading!” Cole called as he disappeared into the kitchen.
Vince remained in the hall, arms full, as she closed the door.
“What?” she asked.
“Just enjoying the view. I missed you.”
How did he make her blood pressure spike with so few words? “I missed you, too.”
“When was the last time we said that to each other?”
Unfamiliar nerves jangled to life inside her. Something had shifted since she’d last seen him. Blossomed. Rejuvenated maybe. “How did the meeting go with Gale?”
Reunited with the P.I. Page 16